Woman Shot During Freeway Traffic Dispute; 3 Youths Held

Seconds after a Canoga Park woman was shot in the head during a traffic dispute on the Ventura Freeway, her car careened into the vehicle driven by her attackers and caused it to flip over several times, resulting in the arrest of three teen-agers, Los Angeles Police said Monday.

Bobbi Viloria, 23, was in extremely critical condition after the 7:45 p.m. Sunday attack in the westbound lanes of the freeway near Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood, Detective Mike Coffey said. A passenger who was uninjured in the shooting managed to steer Viloria’s car off the freeway, but not before it bumped the gunmen’s car and sent it tumbling across several lanes of traffic.

Taken into custody were two Burbank men, Edward Shores, 18, and Man Nguyen, 19, and a 17-year-old boy, said Lt. Michael Ranshaw. All were treated for minor injuries and are being held without bail on suspicion of attempted murder.

Two handguns were found in the teen-agers’ car, Coffey said.

According to police, Viloria and her passenger, Chae Tubtimpet, 24, of Las Vegas, were heading west on the freeway when they became involved in a traffic dispute with the three teen-agers. Coffey said he did not know what started the dispute.

As Viloria’s car neared Vineland, the carload of teen-agers pulled up on the right side and one of the youths fired four shots from a handgun, Coffey said. All missed Tubtimpet, but one struck Viloria in the head, according to police.

The driver lost consciousness immediately and her car swerved into the other car, which flipped over several times before coming to rest in the center of the roadway just west of the Hollywood Freeway.

Tubtimpet, meanwhile, seized the wheel and slid partly onto the driver’s seat. She steered the car onto the northbound Hollywood Freeway and drove off the freeway at Magnolia Boulevard. She called police from a convenience store parking lot.